Currently there are flat display screens that may comprise one or more interfaces making it possible to interact with the information presented. These screens are usually liquid crystal displays. The interface may conventionally consist of control buttons, a touch-sensitive surface or a transparent touch-sensitive screen placed on the screen. The touch-sensitive screens operate either by detecting contact, these screens being known as “touch-screens”, or by force feedback. These flat screens can be used as a tray.
A flat screen comprises three major differences compared with a simple tray. It is heavier and more bulky. Its size and its weight are equivalent to those of a laptop computer. Typically, the screen format is rectangular, of the “A4” sheet type. Furthermore, the screen usually comprises supply and communication cables which do not make handling easy. Finally, it is more fragile and markedly more costly. It is therefore essential that, when the user handles this screen in order to use it or to stow it away, these operations are simple, requiring no particular effort for the user and can be carried out in total security for the screen.
In air transportation, it is possible to use this type of tray either in the cockpit or in the passenger cabin.
In the cockpit, the screen provides information that is additional to the display screens placed fixedly on the instrument panel. It can be used notably in certain flight phases and on the ground. Specifically, certain information needs to be displayed only temporarily and can be displayed on foldaway screens. Usually, these foldaway screens are stowed beneath the instrument panel, which necessarily limits their size and their weight.
In the passenger cabin, the screen may allow the passenger to obtain information, to communicate or to amuse himself. In this case, the screen is conventionally stowed either in the back of the seat in front, or in the armrest. In both cases, in order to be folded away, the current systems have simple vertical movements which do not allow the use or the stowage of large-dimension screens, so they cannot be completely folded away.